November 11, 2023
This week was a busy one. It was Veterans Week and we tagged along while my husband went to a few of the events.
The first one was an an elementary school.
This was pretty exciting for the kids because they’ve never attended school, and they were able to see a Remembrance Day assembly that included their dad.
Generally, it went well. There was one part at the end of the assembly where they played a song to a sideshow of some of the crafts the students had done to commemorate Veterans Week. The lyrics talked about the soldiers leaving their families behind to cry and Last Born looked at me with tears in her eyes because “Momma, this is making me sad.”
Me too, sweetie.
Before we left, we went to the reception room with the Veterans and had a little snack. A couple of the Veterans asked the kids if they were happy to be missing school. “We don’t go to school.” Then they asked what grades they were in. Middle Born said “Yeah, we don’t really do grades. They’re just not important to us, we don’t really care about grades.” You can imagine the looks on the Veterans faces hearing that.
Then, as we were leaving, a lady who I assume was the principal, said that if anyone needed the washroom, we could use the one in the office. So I went in myself, and when I came out, Last Born said she needed to go. I started to tell her were the bathroom was that I went to, and the lady cut me off and said “No, no. The children need to use *that* washroom.” And pointed to the students washroom. I let it go, but i was not at all impressed with the way she said it, or how she treated my kids. It felt very “I have power over you” and I was very thankful that my children are not exposed to that mentality every single day. We also chatted a bit about the school, because I said it looked like a great school with small classes. The lady responded with “Well, that’s what all the country schools are like. Around here, they’re all small classes, very personal, lots of one on one.” Again, it wasn’t what she said, but *how* she said it that just didn’t feel right with me. I feel judged and a little belittled, to be honest.
I’m not sure why it bothered me, but it did. I even talked to my husband about it later. It didn’t bother me to think she judged me for homeschooling, or because my kids joined the Veterans for the snacks at the reception. I know I’m likely not going to even see her again, and her opinion of me, or my children, doesn’t matter in the slightest. She doesn’t know me, her opinion of me is none of my business. But yet, I was bothered by the way I felt about the interaction.
Next up was going to local cemeteries with the Veterans. Every year, the Legion goes to local cemeteries, puts a flag at each of the head stones of a veteran, and collectively say “We remember *Veterans name*.” We joined them last year and they are always happy the kids come along to help find the stones and place the flags.
The kids look forward to it too, they take the honor of helping Legion members do this very seriously.
At home, we made crafts and did some activities for kids that we found on the veterans.gc.ca website. We also shared the resources with the local homeschooling groups.
At the Remembrance Day Service, we were so pleased to see Veteran Jim McCrae again this year! Jim will be turning 106 on November 28th, 2023, in less than three weeks.
To say it is an honor, as a military spouse,
to see this Veteran in person, would be an understatement.
Saltwater wrote an article about his 105th birthday celebration:
"Jim McRae proudly wears his Distinguished Flying Cross. The prestigious medal is awarded for acts of heroism, courage, bravery and valour. The Yarmouth Legion says to its knowledge, McRae may be the only living veteran still wearing the medal. "
I used to see pictures of my friends with their spouses on Remembrance Day and think “It’s a little weird to be taking smiling photos on a day meant to honor the dead.” But now, than 14 years into military spouse life, I know that these photos get taken simply because our CF Members rarely get dressed in their DUs (Dress Uniforms), so we just take the opportunity to take a photo of us with them all dressed up. No disrespect, no weirdness, just wanting to have a keepsake of another year we’ve been able to spend with our very own soldier. (Photo credit: Last Born.)
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